The Merc's Story
by MarvelFanatic123
Summary: We all have our place in the universe, whether you are some taco place waiter working terrible hours for even more terrible pay or some super-human being saving the world. We all have our roles and we all change the world daily with our decisions, even the smallest ones. This is a story of a merc being unwillingly thrust into a fight for what she believes is a hopeless cause. GxG
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Thomas sighed as he watched all those beautiful girls being loaded onto the truck. He thought it a shame that his father didn't want him to try them out. His father runs an illegal prostitution ring, well, more like slave ring, seeing as how all these girls were strippers in his father's clubs before they stopped bringing money, after that, they were loaded onto the truck and sold to the highest bidder.

He took the cigars out of his pocket and took one out. He rarely smokes anymore but, occasionally, you have to take one for the nerves. He glanced at the girls again and grinned when he saw a familiar face. It was that redhead, Tracey, who never even wanted to give him a time of the day. Well, if she gave him what he wanted, she may not have been forced to suck some old guy's dick.

He made sure to keep the grin on his face as he walked in Tracey's direction. "Hey, Trace!" He waved at her. She turned around to face him and, because of that, he could now see the tears in her eyes. She was scared, good, serves the bitch right. "Well, would you look at that? You, the biggest prude in the club, are about to become some old dude's slut."

Tracey's expression turned from one of fear to the one of fury. "Screw you, Thomas!" She went to slap him but the guard that was taking her to the truck caught her arm before she could. She struggled to free herself out of his grip, but to no avail, he was too strong. "Why are you doing this!?" She yelled as she began sobbing.

Thomas shrugged as he took a drag out of his cigar. "Why do you think? You stopped bringing money so we are sending you to do the only thing you're good at." He took another drag of his cigar and blew the smoke in Tracey's face, making her cough. "Whoring yourself out." He laughed when her face became outraged.

His laugh was cut off when he heard a shot being fired and he quickly ducked behind one of the crates close by to hide. Seven more shots were heard as he was crouching behind the crates, his whole body shaking out of fear, before he felt something cold touching his forehead. He raised his head to see a dark haired woman, towering over him, one handgun in each of her hands. She was about 5'10 feet tall, with straight, medium-length black hair, ocean blue eyes, beautiful white, but not too pale face, long legs and muscular but still feminine body. She wore a black crop top, black leather jeans, black high heel boots and black fingerless gloves. She had a confident smirk on her full pink lips.

"Pl-please, don't kill me." He pleaded pathetically, making the woman roll her eyes at him. "Please…" He paused because he started sobbing. "Please don't kill me." His sobs turned to full out crying as soon as he finished the sentence. "I-I don't want to die!"

The woman moved the gun from his head to his stomach. "You know, I heard everything you said to that girl. And I believe you deserve everything you are about to get." Those were the last words he heard before he heard a shot being fired and felt an unbearable pain in his gut.

XXXXXX

Cassandra turned away from the man she just killed as soon as his lifeless body slumped down the crate he was hiding behind. She headed towards the redhead girl she now knows is called Tracey, and simply walked over the people she killed. Honestly, this job was just one big disappointment, only eight guys and one sniveling brat to kill. They didn't even have time to try and shot her, as soon as she killed one of these guys, she teleported to kill the other, it took her less than ten seconds to kill them all. Well, the jobs bring money, and Cassandra likes money.

She stood in front of Tracey, who was lying on the ground, staring up at her with wide and fearful eyes. "Where is Delilah Langston?" When the girl didn't answer her she closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath to keep herself from becoming angry. When she was sure she had her anger under control she crouched in front of the girl and repeated the question, slowly this time. "Where is Delilah Langston?"

The girl shook her head. "Um, what?" Cassandra rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to repeat the question, again, but before she could, Tracey spoke up again. "Oh, Delilah, she's in there." She said as she pointed to her left.

Cassandra's gaze went to where the girl was pointing to see a eighteen wheeler truck. She then looked at the girl and nodded slightly. "Right, thanks." She patted the girl's shoulder. "See you around." She stood up and headed to the truck.

Cassandra was given a job from some politician to find and return his runaway daughter. It appears the girl ran away with her boyfriend, who her father didn't really like, because he had a record. That same boyfriend left her as soon as he found out that he wouldn't get any of the girl's father money, so she was left to her own devices. Her being young and naïve led to her becoming a stripper for one of the Miami's weaker crime bosses, when her father found out about that, he wasn't happy, to say the least. This being a potential embarrassment, he wanted to bring her back, but didn't want to hire a normal private detective to do that, so he hired Cassandra, who is known to be… discrete.

Cassandra went to the truck's trailer to see it closed. With her right hand she took out the gun from the holster and with her left she grabbed the door latch. She opened the door quickly and immediately teleported, missing a bullet that was aimed at her. She reappeared behind the guy who shot at her and shot him in the back of his head.

She looked around, at six frightened girls, to find Delilah Langston. When she spotted the girl's blonde hair she grinned at her. "Bingo." She put the gun back in the holster and moved to untie her. When the girl tried to get away from her Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Relax, geez, I'm here to set you free." The girl still looked frightened, but she nodded nevertheless.

When Cassandra untied her, the girl started rubbing her wrists while Cassandra went to free other girls. When she untied them all she pointed at Delilah. "You are coming with me. Your father paid me to bring you back to him." The girl's eyes widened, but she nodded. Seems like she figured out that it would be better for her to go back to her father, rather than continue living on her own, with no job, no money and the danger of being kidnaped again. Cassandra then looked around at other girls. "As for the rest of you, girls, I've secured you a ride to your homes, or families, or whatever. Just lay low for a while, if you're staying in Miami."

When she got all the girls, including Tracey, to follow her, Cassandra led them towards the warehouse exit to meet up with the man she brought to drive them home, Harry. Harry is a conman that owes Cassandra a favor, some months ago, he conned a wrong man and was about to be killed when Cassandra showed up, she was paid to kill the man he crossed by another, more powerful man, there is always a bigger fish. Seeing how she saved his life, he decided to stick around her until he repaid his debt. Cassandra, seeing how she will never actually need his help, decided to let him help her bring these girls to their homes. So she can finally be rid of him.

As soon as they got out of the warehouse, she saw Harry leaning against his van. When he spotted her, Harry stood up straight and waved at her, like she didn't already see him. He moved to meet her halfway and glanced at the girls with lecherous grin. "So, which ones are mine?" He asked as he gave what appeared to be a poor attempt at flirtatious look to one of the girls behind her.

Cassandra rolled her eyes at him. "All but this one." She said as she pointed her thumb at Delilah. Her eyes then narrowed at him. "And, you will bring them to their homes or wherever they ask you to bring them, and nothing else. You won't try to flirt with them, sleep with them and you will be respectful towards them." She paused. "You know what? Don't even talk or look at them unless if you ask for directions, clear?"

Harry nodded quickly, he might be a conman and brave enough to cross crime bosses, but trying to cross Cassandra is not being brave, it's being crazy. "Yes, all clear." He said as he waved his hands in front of his face, as if to make a point.

Cassandra nodded slightly. "Good." She then turned to the girls, her talk with Harry over, hopefully she won't have to see him ever again. "Alright, girls, this guy will take you wherever you want, don't worry, you'll be safe with him. If anything happens to you his life won't be worth much." She glanced at Harry to make it clear that was a threat. Harry swallowed audibly but said nothing. She then turned to look at Delilah. "You, as I said, are coming with me."

Delilah nodded. "Alright." After that everyone went where Cassandra told them to go. Harry and six of the girls went into the van to go who knows where and Cassandra and Delilah went to Cassandra's 1970 Dodge Charger R/T. As soon as they entered the car, the girl turned her head to look at Cassandra. "Um, thanks for saving me."

Cassandra glanced at her as she started the car. "Yeah, don't worry about it." And with that, she started driving towards the meeting spot.

XXXXXX

Lisa woke up with a start when she felt someone's fear. When she got out of her sleepy and frightened daze she sighed as she figured out the fear was coming from her next door neighbor. She rubbed her eyes and slowly got out of her bed, there was no way she was gonna fall asleep again. "Damn, Mr. Lewis and his nightmares." She muttered to herself as she saw it was only two o'clock in the morning. Mr. Lewis was in military for thirty years and he got a big case of PTSD so these nightmares weren't rare. But Lisa's shields aren't as strong when she sleeps so she can feel his every emotion. Cassandra, her older sister, offered for them to move away, someplace with bigger yard so their neighbors are a little farther away from them, but then Lisa would have to switch schools, and she didn't want to leave her friends and boyfriend behind. Of course, she didn't mention her boyfriend, because, if she did, they would move away no matter what she says.

She sighed as she went out of her room and moved to check whether Cassandra was home yet. When she peeked into her room and saw no one there, she sighed again. "Let's hope she is out because she was on a date that went well, not because of a job." She muttered to herself as she went down the stairs to find something to snack on.

Cassandra is, to Lisa's knowledge, a private investigator. She often stays out late because of her job, or because she goes to the hotel room with one of her many 'friends', as Cassandra likes to call them, Lisa just calls them booty calls. Lisa doesn't think she would even bother with hotel rooms if it weren't for Lisa's empathy. Sure, Cassandra is immune to her powers because they are sisters, but her booty calls are not.

Lisa opened the fridge, took out the half-eaten box of pizza and put it in the oven to heat up. As it was heating up, Lisa went to the living room to find something to watch. When she found reruns of Friends she put the remote down on the coffee table in front of the sofa and went back to the kitchen to wait for the pizza to heat up.

Their house wasn't what some would call large, but it was well furnished and equipped with newest technology. Everything they had was modern and almost new. Cassandra makes sure to redecorate the house at least once a year, usually when Lisa is on vacation from school and goes to their beach house in California to spend some time on the sun. They aren't, to Lisa's knowledge, really rich, but they are well richer than middle class.

When pizza heated up, Lisa went to sit on sofa and watch Friends while eating. Friends were always her favorite show, she guesses it's because when their father left their mother for some younger woman and their mother committed a suicide, seven years ago, when she was nine, Cassandra took a two months leave from the army and every night, before they went to sleep, they watched the show together. Of course after those two months were up, Cassandra had to leave her with their grandmother. About a year later, however, Cassandra was dishonorably discharged because she broke her commanding officer's jaw.

She was halfway through her second episode of Friends when she heard the front door being opened. Less than a minute later Cassandra came inside the living room with a shopping bag in hand. When she noticed her sister on the sofa, watching TV, she raised an eyebrow. "Hey, midget, why aren't you in bed?" Lisa narrowed her eyes at the familiar nickname. Lisa was an identical replica of a teenage Cassandra, only shorter.

"Stop calling me 'midget'." She muttered, but Cassandra only laughed while going towards the kitchen to put the bag on the dining table. "And, I could ask you the same question!" She yelled loud enough to be heard from the kitchen. Cassandra returned from the kitchen, beer in each hand and flopped down on the sofa while offering one beer to Lisa. "Worst parent ever." Lisa muttered as she took the offered beer.

"Hey, I don't see you complaining!" She yelled defensively. "Plus, if I didn't give you beer once in a while, you would just go somewhere else to get drunk. Better to have you drunk here, while I'm close." At that, Lisa just shrugged, it was true enough. "And, as for your question, I was on a job. Now, you answer mine."

Lisa sighed before taking a sip of her beer. "Mr. Lewis had another nightmare." She said softly. Cassandra knew that her shields weren't as good when she sleeps so she understood the problem right away.

Cassandra nodded slightly, unfortunately, she couldn't do anything about that. "Whatcha watching?" She decided to change the subject. When she glanced at the TV she smirked slightly. "Friends, huh?" Lisa nodded and took a bite of her pizza. "Hey, where's my pizza?" When Lisa just opened and closed her mouth, as if to try and defend herself, Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "You ate it all, didn't you?"

Lisa smiled at her apologetically. "I love you." Cassandra just shook her head, but there was a hint of an amused smile on her face, she then turned to watch the TV with Lisa. "Oh, right, the mechanic called today." When Cassandra hummed, as if to ask 'what did he say', Lisa continued. "He said he fixed my car." She informed before taking a sip of her beer.

Cassandra nodded slightly. "Alright, I'll drive you to the mechanic tomorrow after school." Lisa hummed her agreement. They watched TV together for about twenty more minutes before Cassandra yawned. "I better go to bed now." She got up from the sofa and started walking toward the stairs, when she got to the stairs, she paused and turned her head to look at Lisa. "Try to get some more sleep, alright?"

Lisa waved at her without turning from the TV. "Alright, sleep tight." Cassandra just sighed and headed up the stairs, to her room. She really hoped Lisa would listen to her and try to fall asleep, but Lisa being like she is, which is a lot like Cassandra, she will probably disregard her advice and do whatever the fuck she wanted to do.

As soon as she got to her room, Cassandra took a quick shower and crawled into her king sized bed. She fell asleep soon after that.

XXXXXX

An eighteen year old Cassandra walked through the mall with her two best friends Susie and Jessica. They were there to buy dresses for their senior prom, which was only about two weeks away. Cassandra and Susie already bought their dresses but Jessica was always picky with her dresses, so, right now, they were following Jessica as she tried on and dismissed all of her dresses. Cassandra couldn't help but glance at the recruiter for the military every time they passed him by, she always wanted to be a soldier.

Cassandra sighed, there was no way for her to become a soldier, as soon as she tried, they would take all those tests and figure out she was a mutant. Then, off to prison she goes. "Hey, Cassandra, are you alright?" She heard Susie, her blonde best friend, ask from beside her.

Cassandra gave her a slight, fake smile. "Yeah, fine." Susie gave her a searching look but before she could press the issue, Jessica, her brunette best friend squealed loudly.

Cassandra and Susie turned their heads to look at Jessica to see her looking at a beautiful yellow dress that was on display. "This dress…" She took a deep breath. "This dress is perfect." She squealed again before running into the store.

Cassandra shook her head slightly. "Yeah, so was the one you tried before that one." She muttered before moving to follow her friend into the store. While she was entering the store she glanced at the band that was playing, dreadfully bad, in front of it. And because she didn't watch where she was going, she bumped into someone who was exiting the store and the force of impact made her fall on her butt. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I wasn't…" She stopped talking once she looked up and saw that she bumped into a large, muscular African-American man in his middle forties wearing an officer's uniform.

"You alright down there?" He asked her with an emotionless face. She shook herself out of her daze and nodded before getting up. "Alright then, be more careful in the future." He nodded to her before walking away. Cassandra watched him as he left, that man was seriously intimidating, and not only because of his uniform. Something in that man just screamed power to her.

"Hey, Cassandra!" She heard Susie, who entered the store before her, calling her. "What are you just standing there for? If I have to suffer through Jessica's hunt for the perfect dress, so do you." Cassandra turned to look at Susie and nodded before walking up to her.

About half an hour later, finally, Jessica found the perfect dress, it was a red strapless dress from one of the first stores they were in. After that long and tiring shopping trip, and every shopping trip with Jessica was long and tiring if you ask Cassandra, they decided to go to the food court for a bite to eat. As Jessica was skipping ahead of them, Susie was taking her time to tease Cassandra about how Mallory, Cassandra's girlfriend, won't be able to take her eyes of her when she sees her in her dress.

"I think she prefers me without a dress." Cassandra shot back with a smirk, she thoroughly enjoyed the disgusted look that comment gave her. If Susie wanted to tease her, she'd have to try harder than that. Cassandra glanced at Jessica to check on her so she won't get lost in the mall again, yes, again. Her eyes widened when she saw Jessica was skipping right into the fountain. "Jessica!"

Jessica didn't stop but she opened her eyes. "Wha…" Before she could finish that sentence she tripped and started falling into the fountain. She closed her eyes in preparation for the impact she knew was coming, but after a couple of seconds, after no impact came, she opened her eyes to see she was in Cassandra's arms. She looked around to see that the fountain a couple of feet behind her and sighed in relief. "Wow, thanks."

Cassandra, however, was too busy looking around to see if someone saw her using her powers to even hear Jessica talking. Just as she was sure nobody saw her, she noticed the black officer she ran into earlier studying her. Her eyes widened in fear as various terrible thoughts started swirling through her head. All those thoughts had two things in common however, he's going to tell and her life is over.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice her friends calling her name. "Cassandra, are you alright?" It was Jessica's worried voice that finally got through to her. She turned her head to look at her and blinked a couple of times. "You alright?" Jessica asked her again, since she appeared to be lost in her thoughts.

Cassandra nodded slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine." She lied since there was no use in making them worry about it. What could they do?

Jessica glanced down and smiled slightly. "Cassandra, you know I love you and think you are really cute, but I don't swing that way." She told her teasingly.

Cassandra looked at her questionably. "What are you…" She stopped when she glanced down and saw she still had her arms around Jessica. "Oh, right, sorry." She spoke while releasing her from her hold and taking a step back.

Susie looked at Cassandra with worried eyes. "Are you sure you're alright?" She asked because Cassandra was acting really strange. At times like these, Cassandra would usually make some smart-ass and narcissistic comment.

Cassandra tried to smile reassuringly at both of them. "Yeah, I'm fine." When she got doubtful looks, she rolled her eyes. "Really, I'm fine." She subtly glanced at the place the man was standing to see him gone. "So, how about that food? I'm starving." She said, trying to take the attention away from her and to the food.

Jessica smiled brightly and nodded, she always had a short attention span god bless her. "Yeah, let's go." She started walking towards the food court, Cassandra and Susie at her heels. Cassandra didn't miss the worried glances Susie sent her way, she decided to ignore them however.

When they got the food, Cassandra barely touched any of it. She was too nervous to even think about food, let alone eat it. There were still thoughts about what happened swirling through her head. She managed, however, to smile at her friends and join their conversation here and there, just enough not to be asked why she was so silent. She could simply tell them that she was seen using her powers, they already knew she is a mutant, but what good would that do?

After they were done eating, they left the mall and, after hugging goodbye, Jessica and Susie headed to Susie's car, since they were both going in the same direction, while Cassandra went to her own 2003 Fiat Punto. She was just about to unlock the car when she heard a voice behind her.

"Hey!" She turned around to see the man who saw her using her powers earlier walking up to her. Cassandra's eyes widened and she looked around for a way to escape, but there was none. She turned her head back to look at the man who was already just a couple of feet in front of her. "You alright? You look a little pale there." He asked her with a slight smirk.

Cassandra could feel her hands were sweating, so she wiped them on her pants while nodding slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine." She cringed at how afraid her voice sounded, even to her ears.

The man nodded and offered her a hand with a recruitment form in it. "I saw you looking at this. Maybe you should try and enroll if you want." He told her with an emotionless face. Cassandra opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "No, really, take it. You don't have to enroll if you don't want to, but you should know that you could if you wanted to." She could hear in his words what he wanted to say, even though she's a mutant she could enroll. He looked at his watch and handed her the recruitment form. "Here. I have to go now. But, I hope I'm going to see you again." He nodded to her before starting to walk off.

Cassandra looked down at the form before looking up at the man who was walking away. "Who are you, anyway?" She called out to him.

The man stopped in his tracks and turned his head so he can look at her from the corner of his eyes. "I'm Marcus Johnson, but they call me Fury." And, with that said, he walked away. Cassandra looked down at the form and smiled slightly. Now, if only she could escape the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy, but it's gonna be hard when she would be surrounded by all those muscular chicks. Ah, she's gonna cross that bridge when she comes to it.

 **AN/ So, this is Cassandra's other story, I think it's better written, has a better origin and well, it's better. I would welcome feedback on what story I should continue. I would rather continue with this story than with the other, since it's less complicated and seeing how Cassandra already has an established life here, so it would be more interesting. The mistake I made with The Black Knight was that I tried to make Cassandra too epic, and I** **made her a sorcerer when I don't know much about magic in Marvel multiverse. Now, I know you are probably wondering whether Cassandra will be as interesting in this fanfiction. She will be, she will be insulting, joking, seductive, but here, she will have a softer side to her, her sister. I changed her appearance a little from The Black Knight and I also changed her powers. Now, she has short range teleporting not unlike Nightcrawler's. Only Cassandra can't teleport as far as Nightcrawler but her teleporting is a little faster than his. We just saw she could teleport twice in the blink of an eye in her teenage years, now she's a little faster, and her teleportation doesn't give of any smoke, it's just she disappears from one place and reappears on another, it's like you blink and she's gone.**

 **Now, for this story, if you know who Marcus Johnson you will notice that I took a lot of freedom with his origin, he isn't army ranger but military for one, also he is the first director of the organization he's going to work for, not unlike the MCU, so I pretty much made him to resemble his character in MCU instead of comics. And you're probably asking 'why do you always have to make flashbacks?' Well because they are fun, and plus, these ones will be only about four years long, and they will build Cassandra's character.**

 **Let me know which story you want continued**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cassandra groaned as she woke up to her phone's beeping, signaling that it's time to wake up. She rolled over in her bed and turned it off with a sigh. "Thank god this is the last day I'm driving her to school." She muttered to herself as she got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to do her morning rituals. She was mostly exaggerating, just so she could complain about something, she was used, even before Lisa's car broke down, to waking up early. Military life can do that to you.

After brushing her teeth, washing her face, she didn't have the time for a shower, and getting dressed she went downstairs to see Lisa sleeping on the sofa with a TV turned on. She shook her head while going toward kitchen to make some sandwiches for breakfast. Lisa is usually the cook in the house, Cassandra can't cook to save her life. Actually, if she starts cooking, someone is certain to die.

After making the sandwiches, Cassandra went back to the living room to wake Lisa up. She shook her gently and spoke gently. "Hey, Lis, wake up." When Lisa just rolled in the sofa to face away from Cassandra, Cassandra sighed. "Come on, Lis, you're gonna be late." When Lisa just murmured something in her sleep, Cassandra's eyes narrowed. "So, that's how you want to play, huh?" She nodded slightly. "Alright." She picked up the remote and changed to the channel playing hard rock music and tuned it all the way up.

That made Lisa wake up with and jump out of sofa. "Wha…" She murmured sleepily from her place on the floor. She rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. When she saw what woke her up, she narrowed her eyes at her annoying older sister. "What was that for!?" She had to yell to be heard over that awful noise, she also yelled because she felt like it.

Cassandra tuned down the TV and shrugged. "You wouldn't wake up." She muttered.

Lisa groaned. "So you decided to scare the shit out of me to wake me up?" She complained. When Cassandra only shrugged, Lisa rolled her eyes. "Whatever. What time is it?" She looked up at the clock above the TV to see she had fifteen minutes before they had to leave. "I'm gonna go and take a quick shower." She muttered as she raised her hand as a sign for Cassandra to help her up.

Cassandra took her hand and helped her stand up. "Alright, hurry up, I made us breakfast." She rolled her eyes when Lisa widened hers. "Sandwiches." She elaborated. Lisa let out a sigh of relief and nodded before heading towards the stairs. Cassandra moved to the kitchen while shaking her head. "I make sure she wakes up on time and make her a breakfast and what does she do to show me how thankful she is? Insult my cooking. I know it's bad but she doesn't have to rub it in my face." She muttered to herself.

Fifteen minutes later, Cassandra was sitting on the driver's seat of her Dodge, waiting for Lisa so they can head out to school. When Lisa finally walked out of the car and walked towards the house she had a giant smile on her face. Cassandra narrowed her eyes, she knew that smile. It's the same smile she had when she was about to see her first crush, Ms. Robinson, her math teacher.

Lisa got into the passenger seat and buckled her belt, smile never leaving her face. When about twenty seconds passed by and the car didn't move she turned her head to look at Cassandra, who was studying her carefully. She looked down at what she was wearing, thinking that her outfit was a reason for Cassandra's studying gaze, but she remembered that Cassandra doesn't really care what clothes she wore, as long as it was covering what it was supposed to cover. She turned from her clothes to look at her sister questionably. "What is it? Do I have something on my face?" She asked as she self-consciously wiped around her mouth.

Cassandra shook her head and turned her eyes on the road in front of her. "No, it's nothing." She spoke as she turned the key in ignition. She wasn't about to ask if Lisa had a boyfriend, because there was no way she would be told the truth. No, she will investigate and find the little fucker herself. Then she will tell him all about her military training and all those weapons just lying around her room, waiting for some idiotic fucker to try and get it on with her little sister. Those overprotective fathers have nothing on Cassandra.

XXXXXX

When Cassandra entered the Viper, a bar that hosts another bar in the basement, a mercenary bar, she saw it was almost empty. Cassandra rarely frequents this place anymore, since she already made a name for herself. When she was just getting into the business she had to come to this bar to find work, but now, work always finds her. The only reason she came today was because Donny, the owner of the bar, called her and told her there was some woman looking for an experienced female mercenary and she said that she was paying well, Cassandra was the first person Donny thought of.

Cassandra smiled at Charlotte, Donny's daughter, when she saw her manning the main bar and continued towards the basement door. As soon as she entered the mercenary bar, which is manned by Donny himself, Cassandra was meet by the smell of cigar smoke and cheap liquor. There wasn't a lot of people there during the daytime, most business is conducted by night, but that only goes to show what miserable drunks most of the mercenaries are.

Cassandra nodded her greetings to Donny as he pointed her to the foppish looking, middle-aged, white woman sitting in the corner and holding a handkerchief to her nose. Cassandra rolled her eyes at the woman, she's at the mercenary bar, what was she expecting it to smell like? Lilacs and roses?

Cassandra went towards the woman and sat at the chair on the opposite side of the table from the woman. The woman looked surprised and startled when she saw Cassandra taking a seat without saying a word, but Cassandra didn't really pay attention to it. Instead, she studied the woman carefully, she looked foppish, but her standing was not one someone rich would have, she also looked nervous to be here, which was easy to see by how her eyes were darting around, as if expecting someone here would attack her with no reason. Cassandra found the idea laughable, mercenaries might attack each other with no reason, but they don't attack potential employers.

"Um, can I help you?" The woman asked after the silence stretched for a little too long. "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm waiting for someone." The woman said before nervously looking around again.

"Donny" Cassandra nodded at the bartender. "told me you were looking for an experienced female mercenary." She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. "So, here I am."

The woman widened her eyes, clearly surprised. "You are the woman Donny told me about?" She asked in a disbelieving tone. "But, you are…" She waved her hand in Cassandra's direction. Cassandra raised a questioning eyebrow, even though she probably guessed the reason for the woman's surprise. Most, if not all, first time employers come here expecting to see nothing but giant, hairy, tattooed dudes, and the women that are the same way. They are surprised when they see an attractive female mercenary, not so surprised when they see attractive male ones. Cassandra blames the movies. "You know, let's just get to business." She finally spoke after clearing her throat, she probably thought it prudent not to finish her previous sentence.

Cassandra nodded. "Yes, lets. I'm going to need the information on what kind of job I'm doing, whether it's legal or not, how much time I have and we need to discuss how much you are paying me, of course." She spoke as she counted every information she would to need with her fingers. When the woman opened her mouth to respond, but before she could Cassandra raised her hand to stop her. "Oh, one more thing, I don't have a problem with doing illegal jobs, hell, most of my jobs are illegal, but I do have rules that are based on my moral standards." She started counting her fingers for every rule she has. "I don't kill kids, or any innocent people for that matter, I don't go after cops, unless they are the crooked ones, I'm not kidnaping any kids or, again, any innocent innocent people and I don't have sex for the job."

The woman nodded. "Then you won't have a problem with the job I'm about to give you." She opened the purse she was clutching to herself and took out a white envelope, which she handed to Cassandra. Cassandra opened the envelope to see a couple of pictures of a girl with a medium-length, light brown hair, with a couple of streaks of blue, about Lisa's age. She checked when the pictures were taken and saw that the latest was taken about two months ago. So, this was either a rescue mission or the woman didn't hear half of her rules. She nodded for the woman to begin explanation, which, she thankfully did. "That girl is my daughter. About a month and a half ago, we found out she is a mutant. Her power is very… tempting for a lot of people. A little less than a week ago, she was kidnapped, by people who want to use her for her powers, no doubt. I…"

"What's her power?" Cassandra interrupted her without looking up from the pictures. When she didn't get an answer she raised her head to look at the woman and raised an eyebrow. "I asked, what's her power?" She repeated, slower this time.

The woman looked reluctant to answer her, but caved in under Cassandra's impatient glare. "It's… um…" She shifted uncomfortably while Cassandra impatiently drummed her fingers on the table. The woman finally cleared her throat and nodded slightly. "Her power is the Midas touch."

Both of Cassandra's eyebrows raised in surprise. That, she didn't except. She didn't let the surprise to show on her face for long, though. Instead, she stared at the woman thoughtfully for a couple of seconds before nodding slightly. "Yes, I can see how such power could be tempting for… well, everyone." She then turned her head to look at Donny. "Hey, Donny!" Donny stopped cleaning the bar so he can look at her and raised his eyebrow. "Could you bring me your laptop for a second?" Donny nodded and moved to take the laptop from its place and give it to Cassandra for use. Cassandra turned her head to look at the woman, who was staring at her questionably, and smiled slightly. "Hold on for just a minute." She told her calmly, the woman just nodded her head.

Donny arrived at the table with his laptop mere seconds later. "Thanks." Cassandra thanked him with a smile and a nod as she took the laptop from his hand. She placed it on the table and started typing fast. One of the members of her team when she was in the military was one of those nerds who were professional hackers before he joined the army and he taught Cassandra everything he knew so she is a very decent hacker. She can easily break into police files, birth records and even FBI computers. The only computer she could never get into so far was the super computer owned by S.H.I.E.L.D. Of course, she never had a real reason to try, but Cheese was always talking about how no one could break into one of those computers, so, of course, she had to try and prove him wrong. That was an interesting week. "What did you say your name was?" She asked the woman without even glancing up from what she was doing.

"Uh, I didn't." The woman shifted uncomfortably. "Is-is it necessary for you to know my name?" Cassandra looked up at her and raised an eyebrow. She could find out what her name is easily if she wanted to, but she would rather save her time. The woman caved in under her impatient glare again. "It's Rebecca. Rebecca White." She told her with a sigh.

Cassandra nodded and continued typing, after about two more minutes, she closed the laptop and turned her eyes to the woman. "I'm sorry for that. I had to check whether she was really your daughter." She spoke calmly. "It appears she is."

The woman looked insulted. "You think I would lie about something like that?" She spoke with an indignant tone. "I would never…" She shook her head.

Cassandra's expression didn't change from her usual bored one she gave to all of her clients. "We get liars, cheaters and many other types of scumbag here every day, hell, every five minutes, another scumbag walks through that door." She said as she pointed at the door leading towards the main bar. "That girl is a walking golden mine, so I wasn't about to trust you on your word only."

Rebecca didn't look any less insulted, if anything, she looked like Cassandra insulted her even more. "How dare you compare me to scum like that?" She stood up and made an indignant sound. "I don't have to sit here and listen to your insults, I am a respectable woman and there are a lot of female mercenaries in the city who will be more than happy to take my money and be respectful towards me!"

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Donny, can you bring me a beer here?" She called out to Donny over Rebecca's shoulder. She really couldn't listen to this woman's bullshit anymore without getting some alcohol into her system. "Now, listen to me Mrs. White. Becoming rich by exploiting your daughter's power doesn't make you a 'respectable woman'." When Rebecca opened her mouth to defend herself, Cassandra raised her hand to stop her. "Don't try to lie to me. Someone who was rich for a long time has a certain… posture, yes, let's call it posture. The posture you, honestly, don't have. So, the only explanation for your sudden ability to pay for a mercenary, the most expensive mercenary in the state, mind you, is that you became rich by having your daughter turn stuff into gold and selling that gold so you could buy expensive clothes and perfume that can be smelled from mile away." She paused when she noticed Donny arriving with her beer. "Thanks Donny. Oh, here's your laptop, I don't need it anymore." She spoke as she handed him his laptop back. After he left them alone again, Cassandra sat back in her chair and took a sip of her beer. "But, I won't force you to hire me. If you think you can find a better female mercenary before those assholes do something awful to your daughter, do go ahead." She said the last part while waving her hand dismissively.

Rebecca glared at her, but when she got a bored glare back, her eyes widened and she sat back in her chair. "I'm sorry. I'm just really worried about my daughter." She spoke softly. "And you're right, I did exploit my daughter's power. But I couldn't help myself, it was there and I…" She sobbed slightly, but Cassandra could easily see it was all fake. This woman doesn't care about her daughter. She just wants her little moneymaker back. She kind of reminds her of her own mother, she didn't care much about Cassandra after she found out she was gay, and she only had Lisa in a desperate attempt to keep her dearest husband from leaving her, and her father wasn't much better. Thankfully, neither of her parents found out about her and Lisa being mutants, she could only imagine what would happen if they did.

Cassandra cleared her throat after the woman's cryfest lasted for a little too long. "Anyway, let's talk about price." She spoke with no emotion in her voice, the only person she feels sorry for is the poor girl, Beatrice, if she remembers correctly. She will either end up with a mother who doesn't care about her, only about money she can make her or with some kidnapers who treat her god knows how badly. At least her mother would treat her decently, at least she hopes so.

Rebecca nodded and used her handkerchief to wipe her eyes. "Alright." She sniffed. "Would two hundred thousand be enough?" Cassandra's eyebrows rose at the number she just heard. If she didn't know that this woman was a first-timer before, she would know now. No one offers that much money for a single mercenary unless the job was too dangerous or too underhanded. And even then, it was rare, rare like needing two more stickers to have an entire collection and actually finding them rare.

Still, Cassandra wouldn't lose any sleep cheating this woman for that much money. She smirked slightly and nodded. "Yeah, that would be enough." She took another sip of her beer. "Do you have any idea who might have kidnaped her?" She usually gets a straight-up mission with all the information she needs to complete it, but there were more than a couple of jobs in which she had to play detective as well as a killer. That's why she was so popular despite her rules and high price. Well, that and the fact that she was the best mercenary in Miami, maybe even an entire Florida.

Rebecca nodded slightly. "Yes, I was there when they took her away, they tied me up to the chair." Cassandra leaned forward a little, maybe this job will be a quick one. "I didn't see their faces but I do know there were three of them, two men and a woman." Cassandra slumped back in her chair. Of course it won't be a quick job.

Cassandra closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "Can you think of anything else?" She's a pretty good detective but even she can't find them with no leads. When the woman shook her head Cassandra sighed. "Think carefully. Are you sure you can't think of anything else?" Okay, now she feels like one of those cops from those TV shows Lisa likes to watch.

The woman appeared to be thinking it over for a couple of seconds, but she just shook her head in the end. "No, I can't… Wait, there is something I remember." Cassandra leaned forward a little again. "One of the men, he was really muscular and tall, and he had a dragon tattoo covering his entire left arm."

Cassandra nodded slightly. "Alright, that's a start." She paused to take another sip of her beer. "Now, can you remember whether the tattoo had color or was it black?" She would prefer if it had color, black dragon is not an unusual tattoo. Sure, it lessened the number of people she needed to look for greatly, but she saw at least ten tall and muscular guys with a black dragon tattoo on their arms, this week.

The woman appeared to be thinking it over before responding. "I'm fairly certain it was black." Somehow, Cassandra wasn't entirely convinced in her certainty. But she might as well start with those guys.

Cassandra sighed and nodded. "Very well." She then took another sip of her beer. "How much time do I have?" She would need at least three days, if not a week. She was much quicker at tracking criminals than cops because she has many contacts throughout the underworld, and it is possible that these guys, if they don't want to take all the risks that come with keeping the girl for themselves, would sell the girl to the highest bidder. And Cassandra knows some people who know where biddings like this take place.

The woman shrugged. "As soon as you are able." Cassandra didn't even blink at the lack of concern this woman showed towards her own daughter. She had her all figured out as soon as the woman started talking about her daughter. "Would that be all?" She laughed a little nervously. "I'm not exactly sure how this is supposed to go."

Cassandra nodded. "Yes, that would be all." The woman nodded and stood up. It was at that moment Cassandra remembered the question that has been nagging at her mind. "Just a second." She raised her hand just as the woman was about to turn around and leave. "You told Donny that you needed a female mercenary. Why? The way I see it, the mercenary of every gender could do this job."

Cassandra watched as the woman looked around nervously, and she didn't miss the way she shifted her feet and began to sweat slightly. "Well, um, you see…" She stuttered, making Cassandra raise her eyebrows. This woman was hiding something. "You see, about six months ago, Beatrice was raped." Cassandra's eyes widened slightly, now it makes sense. At least this woman appears to care enough to choose a woman for this job. "And, she was frightened to even approach a man ever since." The woman just confirmed what Cassandra already knew. Cassandra saw the victims of rape before, both in her time in the military and as a mercenary. Most of them were scared of men, or any sexual relation for that matter, for years to come. And the worst part is that they think that it was somehow their fault and nothing could make them believe otherwise but themselves.

Cassandra nodded slightly, without looking up at the woman. "Understandable." There were still some things that didn't add up, like why was this woman so nervous to admit her daughter was raped. Not only was she nervous, she was downright frightened. Doesn't matter for now, she will know the entire story eventually, but this woman won't get her daughter back until she does. Depending on what she finds out, maybe she won't get her back at all. She glanced up to see the woman still standing there. "That would be all, I have everything I need. And I also got your number from the files I read." The woman seemed reluctant, but she nodded and left.

Cassandra sat back in her chair and sipped her beer while thinking about this new job. Two hundred grand is a lot of money, but it's not like she was hurting for money. The money she gets from her work keeps both her and her sister well feed and then some. And, even if that fails, she has a giant bank account she filled over these last six years she was a mercenary. She made that bank account to be given to Lisa if she somehow met an ultimately end, for which there is a big possibility, her job being what it is.

But there was no way she would lose her money. No, money wasn't what worried her, no what worried her was the possibility that she would find the girl, bring her back to her mother and she ends up being as bad as those kidnapers. But that won't happen, she decided. Before she hands the girl to her mother she is going to have all the facts.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice Donny coming over or taking a seat that was occupied by the woman that just left. "You need anything else, kiddo?" Cassandra looked up from staring at her beer bottle to look at Donny questionably. "I asked whether you needed anything else. In what world were you just now?" He smirked at her.

Cassandra shook her head with a slight smile on her face. "Sorry, got lost in my thoughts." Donny nodded his understanding and looked at her expectantly. "Could you check with your contacts to find whether there are any biddings for teenage mutant girls?" He gave her a slight nod and waited for her to continue. "And could you check for any tall muscular guys with dragon's tattoo on their left arm with criminal records? I would do it myself but…"

"But you don't have the time, I get it." He told her with a smirk. Cassandra sighed and smiled at him gratefully. "Anything else?" He asked her.

Cassandra shook her head. "No, I'm gonna go and ask Michelle if she knows anyone with that tattoo and which tattoo parlor specializes in making them." Cassandra rolled her eyes once she saw Donny's smirk. Cassandra and Michelle were on and off girlfriends for four years now, they broke up again three months ago and Donny might think she doesn't know about the pool he made for how long it will take them to get back together this time, but she knows all about it.

Donny nodded, smirk never leaving his face. "Alright, have fun." He made a guess that it would take them three months this time. He's so winning this.

 **AN/ Alright, that's chapter two. I still haven't decide which one I will continue but I thought it would be fair to at least make three chapters of this one before I decide. Anyway, sorry if this chapter was boring, what with it being only two scenes and everything. But I would rather have a thorough scene that will be the length of the entire chapter than to have some half-assed scene where I give you the basics of what's going on but leave out the details. Oh, one more thing, you should know that femslash will come a little later, since I write fiction about OC's my fictions will usually be more of their story, what they do, what are they like and everything else. Don't worry though, femslash will be a BIG part of the story, if I continue with this fiction. Which I believe I will.**

 **Follow, favorite and review**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

An eighteen year old Cassandra punched an already bloody soldier in the face as she ducked one of his pathetic punches. She was a recruit for almost a month and she already managed to get into a fight with a soldier that thought he could order her around. It was Sunday night when they get a free evening to go to town and she was drinking her non-alcoholic beer with her friends like a good little under-aged recruit she had to be when these assholes come to their table and try to flirt with them.

Well, alright, the rest of them weren't so bad, but this guy that was trying to flirt with Cassandra didn't seem to understand the meaning of word 'no'. When Cassandra told him 'no' for the tenth time he started yelling and throwing insulting words at Cassandra's direction. So, Cassandra decided to teach him the manners his parents failed to. And that's how this fight broke out.

Cassandra had a slightly bleeding lip while the asshole had a broken nose, black eye and he was limping on his right foot. He was about to try and punch her in the gut when someone grabbed him by his arms and led him away from Cassandra. A second later, the same thing happened to her. She tried to get out of the hold and beat that little asshole to the pulp, but the hands holding her were too strong.

"Easy there, kiddo." She heard a rough male voice whisper in her ear. She tried to turn and glare at the man, but she could only turn around enough to see a name tag with 'Cpl. Ryker' written on it. When she saw that he was E-4 grade and not E-1, Cassandra's eyes widened and she stopped struggling. "I'm gonna let you go now, but don't try anything. I'm too old to run after you." She could easily hear amusement in his voice.

When he released her, Cassandra turned to glare at the private she fought, but she smirked slightly when she noticed how much she hurt him. While they were fighting, she was too busy to notice how much she beat the shit out of him, but now, she doesn't want to toot her own horn but she had to admit, damn she's good.

She glanced to her right, at the man who was holding her just seconds ago, to see a tall and muscular elderly man, in his late fifties if she had to guess, with graying flattop hair and a scar on his left cheek. He smirked as she glanced at her. "You've really done quite a number on him, kiddo." Cassandra smirked and nodded while glancing at the man who was lecturing the asshole about fighting while off duty. "What's your rank?" She heard the man ask from beside her.

Cassandra cleared her throat and stood at attention. "Um, recruit, sir." The man turned to look at her with a raised eyebrow. Probably wondering how a recruit could know to fight so well. Cassandra cleared her throat again. "I did some martial arts in the past, sir." That's an understatement, since she was eight, she went to every martial arts class she could find. Her parents were too busy to pay any attention to her and having her do something while they were doing their own thing was easier for them. When she was twelve and her sister was born she started taking fewer classes since she was staying home more often, to watch her.

The man nodded slightly. "Screw that 'sir' bullshit with me while off-duty kiddo. I'm not much for formality, everyone calls me Ryker." Cassandra turned to look at him questionably, but she nodded nevertheless. "What's your name?"

"Cassandra Jones, si- Ryker." She stumbled. When Ryker raised his eyebrow at her she smiled slightly. "Sorry, it'll take some time to get used to." Ryker smirked slightly and nodded. It was at that moment that the man who grabbed the asshole walked towards them. He was a man in his mid-thirties, with brown hair and a kind face, his nametag said 'Lt. Coulson'.

When Coulson opened his mouth to lecture Cassandra the same way he lectured the asshole, Ryker raised his hand. "Relax, Cheese, I already told her about how irresponsible and just plain wrong to start a fight while off-duty is." He lied smoothly. Coulson looked at him doubtfully for a couple of seconds, but, in the end, he nodded.

Cassandra cleared her throat. "Um, this was fun and everything, but I better go back to my friends." She told them as she pointed her thumb behind her, at three girls who were watching them with interest.

Ryker nodded at her. "Yeah, see you around Jones." Cassandra nodded and saluted them before moving to go back to her friends.

Before she could get very far, though, Coulson's voice stopped her. "Wait, Jones?" Cassandra turned to look at him questionably and nodded. "Recruit Cassandra Jones?" Cassandra's eyebrows rose in confusion. How did this man know her name? She glanced at Ryker to see he was just as confused as she was. Cassandra looked at Coulson and nodded slowly. Coulson smiled at her brightly. "Well, then, I'm sure we will meet again." With that said, he turned away and went towards his table, Ryker hot in his heels. Cassandra watched them for a couple of more seconds, but, in the end, she just shook her head and went back to her friends.

XXXXXX

Cassandra stepped out of her car and looked up at the building owned by her ex-girlfriend. Cassandra always called it tattoo shop, but it was actually a two story building, first floor housing a small but cozy coffeehouse, which is also owned by Michelle, while the second floor housed a tattoo shop and her living quarters.

Cassandra met Michelle about four years ago, in one of the lesbian clubs they both frequented. At first, Cassandra was only attracted to this hot pale redhead, and Michelle was, likewise, only attracted to Cassandra because of her looks, but after they got to know each other, they found out how similar they actually are and became friends, with benefits of course. Yes, they have been monogamous a couple of times but they were never really exclusive, when people assumed that they were girlfriends they never bothered to correct them, however. Michelle is actually Cassandra's best friend, and the only person who is present in both of her lives.

Cassandra smirked once she entered the coffeehouse and noticed Michelle rubbing her forehead while glaring at her cup of coffee. Someone had too much fun last night. Michelle is a beautiful, by anyone's standards, woman with long blood red hair, gray eyes, pale complexion, which is very rare in a sunny place like Miami and she has rose bush tattoo on her left arm and a single rose tattoo bellow her right shoulder.

Cassandra moved towards Michelle's table. "Morning, sunshine!" She said in a loud and cheery voice while thoroughly enjoying Michelle's flinch and glare. Cassandra grinned at her innocently and sat down on the chair on the opposite side of the table from Michelle. "Long night?" She asked as she took Michelle's cigar pack from the table and took one.

Michelle took a sip of her coffee and sighed. "You have no idea." She muttered before taking a lighter from her back pocket and handing it to Cassandra. Cassandra doesn't really smoke, she just enjoys an occasional cancer stick while hanging out with Michelle.

Cassandra nodded. "Thanks." She muttered as she grabbed the lighter and lit up the cigar. "Why don't you tell me about it?" She said before taking a drag from her cigar.

Michelle shrugged. "There's not much to tell. I went out, I danced, I drank, I flirted with some girls, then I drank again, brought a cute but kinky little blonde home and we fucked like there was no tomorrow." Cassandra smirked at her and Michelle managed a small smirk back. "You should have been there, the things that she asked me to do to her." She shook her head. "I can't even imagine how fun it would be if we did her together."

Cassandra smirked and shook her head. "Wouldn't be the first time we shared a kinky lover." Michelle shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. "Paul!" Cassandra called to the man behind the cash register. "Black coffee for me." When she got a nod, Cassandra turned her head back to look at Michelle, her expression turning serious. "I need a favor."

Michelle straightened in her chair and nodded. "Shoot." She knew this was probably about Cassandra's job.

Cassandra sighed. "I'm looking for a kidnaped mutant girl with the power of…" Cassandra looked around, to make sure no one was paying attention to them. There were quite a few people in the coffee that morning, only a couple of people she occasionally saw stopping by at the coffeehouse. When she made sure no one was listening in, she turned her head back to look at Michelle and leaned in to whisper. "Midas touch."

Michelle's eyes widened and she whistled. "Holy shit!" She whispered loudly before turning around to look at Paul. "Paul, we're going upstairs, bring Cassandra's coffee up there when it's done." She told him before turning back to look at Cassandra. "Come on, let's go up." She said as she picked up her phone, cigars and the lighter from the table.

Cassandra nodded and stood up from her chair to follow Michelle to the privacy of her room, only this time, it wasn't because they were about to do something fun.

When they entered Michelle's living quarters and Cassandra saw the unmade bed with ripped sheets, destroyed pillows and… Was that blood? Cassandra turned to Michelle and raised an eyebrow. Michelle just shrugged. "Told you she was kinky." Cassandra opened her mouth, but found she had nothing to say, so, she just shook her head. Michelle waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it." She moved to the living room and took a seat at the couch while indicating for Cassandra to do the same. "So, what do you need from me?"

Cassandra took a seat on the couch and faced Michelle. "Well, as I said, I was hired to find and rescue the kidnaped mutant girl with the power of Midas touch." Michelle nodded that she understood. "The person who hired me is her mother, who was there when the girl was kidnaped. She didn't see their faces, but she knows that the kidnapers were two men and a woman, and that one of the men had a dragon tattoo on his left arm."

Michelle nodded. "So you need me to give you the names of all men who I made dragon tattoo on the arm for and the names of tattoo parlors that specialize in those tattoos." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. This wasn't the first time Cassandra came to Michelle to ask for favors like this one.

Cassandra smirked at how good Michelle knows her and nodded. "Exactly." She said just before they heard the knock on the door that signaled Paul arrived with her coffee. Michelle stood up and went out of Cassandra's sight to open the door. When she got back, she carried a tray with coffee on it, which she placed on the coffee table in front of the couch. "Thanks." Cassandra nodded.

Michelle sat down on the couch and sighed. "Yeah, I can find everything you need in the books." Since the first time Cassandra asked her for a favor, she started keeping the detailed books on customer's names, what kind of tattoos they wanted, stuff like that. Just in case Cassandra might need it. "But, I think you should probably check whether someone sold a large amount of gold recently first."

Cassandra nodded slightly. "Yeah, I thought about that. And I'm going to check that later, but it's very possible that these assholes don't want to attract that kind of attention on themselves, so they would either sell their gold on the black market or they would simply sell the girl to the highest bidder." She explained before taking a sip of her coffee.

Michelle nodded slightly. "Yes, both of those possibilities are likely." She sighed and shook her head. "Man, can you imagine what would happen if those greedy crime bosses even heard about the girl?"

Cassandra gave her a wry smile. "Whatever you're imagining right now, it doesn't even come close to the chaos that would bring." Michelle chuckled a little before nodding her agreement.

XXXXXX

After her talk with Michelle, it was about time for Cassandra to go and pick up Lisa, so now she was leaning on her car while waiting in front of Lisa's high school. As she waited she thought about her newest job. There were a couple of possibilities on how this could end, and it all depended on how fast she could find the girl. First possibility is that those kidnappers are stupid enough to make the girl turn things into gold and go somewhere to sell it. That possibility had the simplest solution, if that happened Cassandra would simply find and kill them. The second possibility was that they would try and sell her to the highest bidder but Cassandra finds them before that happened, same solution as the first. The third possibility was that they would try to sell them to the highest bidder and Cassandra has to wait until the bidding starts to rescue her. The solution for that one is a little bloodier, she would have to rescue her while the bidding was still going on and then she would have to kill everyone there. She wouldn't be allowed to let anyone leave that place alive, because if someone left and told someone about the girl's power, the word would spread through the entire east coast and all chaos would break loose. Criminals, mercenaries, government organizations, they would all go after the girl and would use her to get more money until she makes enough gold for its price to fall, then, they would kill her.

Of course, there is always a possibility that they kidnaped her on someone else's orders. In that case, the solution would be pretty similar to the first two. Find the assholes, make them tell you who they did it for, kill them, find the big boss, kill him/her and rescue the girl. Simple.

Cassandra forced the thoughts of job out of her head once she saw Lisa walking towards her. It's not like Lisa could read her, and even if she could, she's an empath, not a telepath so Cassandra's thoughts were safe, but she's separating her professional life from private, and that means no thinking about jobs while with Lisa.

Cassandra's eyes narrowed once she saw a giant smile on her little sister's face. "What are you so happy about?" She smirked. "You finally got laid?" Alright, saying that was a really bad idea. Now she can't get it out of her head. "No, please don't answer that." She shook her head with clear disgust on her face before getting into the driver's seat of her car.

Lisa smirked and moved to enter the car. "What, you can talk about your sex life but I can't?" When Cassandra turned her head to glare at her, Lisa raised her hands. "Hey, not only do I have to hear about your sex life, but I also had to see you in action once." She shuddered when she remembered that day. It was before their parents' divorce. They went to visit their grandmother in Orlando and while Lisa, her parents and her grandmother went to have some lunch, Cassandra pretended to be sick so she could stay home and have sex with their grandmother's neighbor, a neighbor with a husband and two kids by the way. When they returned home, Lisa ran up to her sister's room and found them in a really compromising situation. Fortunately, their grandmother's house was one story high and the woman managed to sneak out of the window without being seen. After that, instead of telling her they were playing doctor or something, Cassandra told her all about what exactly sex is and paid her to stay silent.

Cassandra shrugged. "You had to learn about sex eventually." She defended while starting the car.

Lisa looked at her like she was insane. "I was four!" She yelled, making Cassandra roll her eyes. "I had to go to the therapy because of the nightmares and everybody thought I was crazy since you told me to say I saw dead people!" She was seriously pissed now.

"And, yet, you still told your therapist about how you caught me having sex." Cassandra said as she glanced at Lisa pointedly. "You betrayed my trust Lis, and my money." She shook her head. "How could you do that, Lis? How could you?" Cassandra finished as she stopped at the red light.

Lisa looked at her sister with her jaw hanging open. Did Cassandra really believe she was in the right here? Lisa shook her head, of course she did. Why was she even surprised? Cassandra always was a narcissistic person. Lisa sat back in her seat with her arms crossed beneath her breast as she decided she was angry at Cassandra. She sat up straight and turned her head to look at Cassandra with narrowed eyes as she realized something. "How do you even know I told my therapist about that?" Cassandra glanced at her and opened and closed her mouth as she tried to think of something to say. Lisa's narrowed eyes turned into a full glare now. "You slept with my therapist, you slut." She spoke quietly as the realization hit her.

Cassandra moved one of her hands from the wheel to raise her index finger. "Alright, first, I detest that word." She then returned the hand to the wheel and glanced at her. "And, yes, I did." She nodded but spoke quickly after so she could defend herself. "But you could hardly blame me, she was hot and willing and I was a hormonal teenager, what did you expect me to do?"

"You still act like a hormonal teenager!" Lisa yelled loudly as she raised her hands up. When Cassandra glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, Lisa began counting on her fingers, a habit they both have. "My chemistry teacher, my karate instructor, do you even know how bruised I was the day after? Then we have my art teacher, and let's not forget my friend's mom, in her bedroom, while we were downstairs, celebrating her daughter's birthday. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was to hear your friend's mom screaming your sister's name while the said sister is screwing her?"

Cassandra laughed softly. "Can't say that I do." When she glanced at Lisa and saw her pissed face, Cassandra cleared her throat and spoke more softly. "Listen, Lis, I know that I can be a little… too sexual." Lisa snorted at that. "But look on the bright side. You got an A on every chemistry test that year." She supplied helpfully, at which Lisa nodded, she usually barely gets a B- in chemistry but during that year all she got were A's. "You always talked about how your art teacher hated you, but after I had sex with her, she was nothing if not nice towards you." Lisa nodded, that was true also. "And that karate instructor? You didn't need her. I taught you everything about hand-to-hand combat." Lisa nodded, she would give her that too, but there was no way she was going to justify her sleeping with her friend's mother. "And as for your friend's mother, if you were embarrassed, what do you think how did your friend feel?" Lisa smirked. She could still see Tiff's mortified face. "I mean, seriously, can't you think of anyone but yourself?" And she messed up.

Lisa shook her head. "You know what? Just drive to the mechanic and let's enjoy the blessed silence." She spoke before slumping back in her seat again. Cassandra glanced at her and shrugged, she could be silent.

XXXXXX

Emma Frost sighed as she left another of the student's essay she gave out to her English Lit class ungraded. If those kids won't bother with writing a readable essay she won't bother grading them. Ah, she doesn't have anything better to do anyway. There were no missions lined up, the Summers' and Xavier have left to solve another one of Summers bloodline crisis, Wolverine is who knows where, that man simply isn't reliable, and Warren's team went to catch some insane mutant who went on personal vendetta against some guy named 'Francis'. She was left alone to battle her boredom, and fill in for some of their classes. Honestly, if she was being paid at all she would demand a big raise for this alone.

After about twenty more minutes of grading essays, half of which she left ungraded, she got up to go and find some apple or something to bite on. As soon as she got out of her office she came face to face with Hank. "Oh, Emma, you're here, good." He spoke with a relieved sigh.

Emma raised an eyebrow at him. "You were looking for me?" She had no idea why he would look for her, there were no emergencies and everything was quiet at the school as far as she knew.

Hank nodded. "Yes, come on, you have to see this." He looked distressed so Emma decided to follow him and find out what this was about before asking questions.

He led her through the halls towards the elevator and pressed the button for his med-lab. Emma raised an eyebrow as they waited for the elevator to bring them to their destination. "Hank, I have essays to grade, so hurry up and tell me what this is about." She spoke impatiently.

Hank shook his head. "You know how I'm looking through the police records and other information about possible mission's while the professor is away?" He asked her. When Emma nodded, he took a deep breath. "Well, I found something."

Emma waited for him to continue, but when it became apparent he wouldn't she spoke. "So, out with it. What did you find?" She asked him, her impatience sky rocketing.

Just as Hank was about to answer, the elevator opened to reveal the med-lab. Hank went out of the elevator and waved for Emma to follow him. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He spoke as he moved to sit in front of his computer. "So, I'm going to show you." He spoke as he grabbed a hold of the computer mouse and clicked on a file he saved.

When Emma glanced at the file, she saw a police record about some woman, who was previously middle class, selling millions worth of gold in the last month and a half. Emma turned to Hank and shrugged. "So, some woman stumbled upon some gold. What does that have to do with us?" She really couldn't see how some woman selling gold had anything to do with the X-men, even if she got that gold through illegal means.

Hank nodded without looking away from his computer. "Usually, nothing. But take a look at the shape of those objects." He clicked at another file and Emma's eyes widened. The gold was in the shape of lamps, chairs, fruit, and there was even one shaped like a nude man. "I, uh…" Hank cleared his throat. "I ran the face recognition on the man. It took a while since he was made of gold but I managed to find out who he is, or was rather." He finally turned to look at her, his eyes clearly showing his horror. "He was her husband."

Emma was stunned at what she was seeing and hearing, but she managed to hide it behind her usual cold mask and nod. "So, you think the woman has the power to turn stuff into gold?" That's the only explanation she could think of, the woman is a mutant. But, why didn't she use her power earlier. From what she saw, the woman lived as a middle-class citizen her entire life and she was too old to just now learn about her mutation.

Hank shook his head. "That's what I thought as well, but I found it strange she didn't use that power before to get rich. So, I looked into it a little bit more." Emma nodded for him to continue. "It appears the woman has a fifteen year old daughter, about the right age for her to learn about her mutation." He explained.

Emma nodded. So the woman learned about her daughter's mutation about a month and a half ago and began using her to become rich. "Send me all the details, I'm going to go and check it out." She told him coldly. Hank opened his mouth to protest her going alone but Emma was out of the med-lab before he could. As Emma waited for the elevator to bring her to the floor her room was in, she stared at its door with cold determination. She finally found a way to cure her boredom.

 **AN/ So, I finally decided what I'm going to do. I'm going to continue with both stories but I'm going to focus on this one. That should make everyone happy.**

 **Now, for this chapter, we introduced some more OC's and already familiar characters, the action is about to begin, as well as slight flirting which will lead to romance, but it won't end when they find the girl, no there is still a lot to tell after that. And, I'm truly sorry for the shameless Deadpool reference.**

 **Follow, favorite and review**


	4. Chapter 4

**Trigger warning: domestic violence and implied rape of a minor (In my country it's under 18)**

Chapter 4

Beatrice sighed as she glanced at the clock again. Her father's shift ended five hours ago and he still wasn't home yet, he was probably out drinking and gambling with his buddies. She glanced at her mother, who was sitting on the couch next to her, she appeared twitchy. Of course she would be twitchy, whenever Beatrice's father came back home this late, which was pretty often, he would be drunk and abusing. It was like that since she knew of herself.

Beatrice couldn't really understand why her mother didn't just pick up her stuff and leave that man for good. That's what she would have done. She felt her stomach growl, she was really hungry, but it would be a really bad idea to eat without her father there. He would only be even angrier if they did that, which would be really bad since he would already be pretty angry because of losing all of his money on cards. Her father was a terrible gambler.

Finally, Beatrice heard the front door being opened. She flinched when she heard her father falling and taking something else with him. When her mother stood up to meet him at the stairs, Beatrice took a deep breath and kept a neutral face, her father didn't like when someone called him on being drunk, before standing up to follow her.

When she arrived to the front door, Beatrice was surprised to see another man standing next to her father. The man was in his late thirties or early forties, he was tall, slender and he had a long black hair. When her father looked up at them, he smiled one of his drunken smiles. "Ah, my wife and my daughter." His words were slurred as he spoke, and he could hardly stand. "Meet my good friend, Mr. Davidson." Mr. Davidson, as her father called him, nodded at them, first at her mother, than at Beatrice, on who his eyes stayed and stared at lecherously.

Her mother smiled politely at the man. "Hello, good sir." She then turned her head to look her husband. "Should I prepare dinner for four then, dear?" Her eyes widened as the words flew out of her mouth. Even though it was dinner time, Beatrice's father was supposed to be home for lunch, and he hated being reminded that he was out drinking instead of coming home for a meal.

Beatrice's father's eyes narrowed at Rebecca and he stumbled towards her until he stood a couple of inches away from her. Then he slapped her, hard. "Dinner!?" He spat in her face. "It's lunch time, you bitch!" He yelled as he grabbed her by the throat harshly.

"Of- of course, forgive me." Rebecca wheezed through her husband's choking hold. When he nodded slightly, as a sign of forgiveness, and released his hold on her throat, Rebecca panted for her breath slightly before standing straight and gave the man a pleasant smile again. "So, should I prepare lunch for four?" Beatrice wanted to shake her head in disgust at her mother but knew that she would only be punished because of it.

All three of them turned to look at Mr. Davidson, who was watching the exchange with an amused smile on his face, as they waited for his answer. The man gave them a polite smile as he shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm only here to take what I won at cards, then, I'll be out of your hair." Beatrice barely managed not to roll her eyes. Of course, her father lost all the money he had on him so he brought the man home to give him the rest of what he owes him.

Her father smiled at the man. "Suit yourself." He then turned to Beatrice with a stern look on his face, or as stern as he could manage while drunk. "Show the nice man to your room and make sure he's pleased with you."

Beatrice eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "What are you talking…" When she realized what he was talking about, her eyes widened. "You can't mean to…" She stopped what she was saying when she felt Mr. Davidson grab her wrist roughly. "Wait! No!" She pleaded while looking at her father, who only glared at her in return. "No!" She yelled as she tried to squirm out of the man's hold. "Mom!" She turned her pleading eyes towards her mother, hoping she would get help from her. But her mother didn't even glance at her, she only stared at her husband with a pleasant smile on her face.

After she saw neither her father nor mother were about to do anything to stop struggling, knowing it was hopeless, and surrendered to her fate. The man led her to her bedroom and threw her at her bed roughly, before jumping at it himself and grabbed her breast through her shirt. Tears began spilling out of her eyes as she felt his touch all over her body. Why didn't her parents do anything to stop him, she wondered. Why would they let this happen?

"No!" Beatrice screamed as she woke up, covered in sweat, from her restless sleep. It took her a couple of seconds to get out of her fear induced daze and figure out it was only a bad dream, only a bad memory. She slumped back in her bed as she remembered she wasn't in a much better situation now. Kidnaped and locked in a dungeon, with no knowledge of where she was or even who kidnaped her. All she knew was that she was kidnaped because of her power, and she knew that only because, the woman comes to her dungeon every day and brings rocks for her to turn into gold.

She was here, wherever here was, for only a couple of days, but she felt like she was going crazy because she had no one to talk to, the woman who brought her meals and rocks to turn into gold was hardly talkative. Then again, even before she was kidnaped, she rarely talked to anyone, she didn't talk to anyone at school because she was too scared they would notice her bruises and tell someone about them, and, when she was home, she didn't talk unless she was asked something, even before the 'incident'.

Beatrice turned towards the door when she heard it opening to see the woman bringing her breakfast. She glanced at her hands to make sure she had gloves on and, when she saw she did, she got up from the bed and walked towards the table where her plate was set. Well, she thought, at least people here were too afraid to come close to her, so no one would try to touch her.

XXXXXX

Cassandra sighed heavily as she closed the last of Michelle's books. There were simply too many people with the dragon's tattoo on their arm. Well, she could go out and try to find out if any gold in strange shape was sold recently, or she could try to find an answer to the question that had been nagging at her mind since she had a talk with Mrs. White. How did the kidnaper even find out about the girl's power? She highly doubts the woman had told someone about it, no matter how stupid she might be. Hell, she seemed pretty reluctant to even tell Cassandra about it.

If she found out who else could have known about the power, it would greatly reduce the list of suspects. Yes, she will do that, she decided as she started typing on her computer. She would check the girl's school, neighbors, her mother's workplace and her father's workplace, their colleagues, relatives and friends too. She frowned when she read the girl's school records. A very good student grade-wise, her lowest grade is B, and even that, only in gym class. That's not what made her frown though, what made her frown is that she was had perfect attendance record until about a month and a half ago, when she completely stopped coming to school.

Great, Cassandra thought with more than a little bit of sarcasm as she slumped back in her chair. So, no one in her school would know about her power, well, actually, she might have friends with whom she kept in touch even after she stopped going to school. It's worth a shoot. Wait, she thought as she leaned forward in her chair, there was something wrong with this file. She opened a new window in her explorer and hacked into the police records. What she found made her eyes go wide. She found absolutely nothing. The White family never reported any rape. So, there were two possibilities, either she was lied to and there was no rape, or they just didn't want to report it for whatever reason.

Cassandra's eyes narrowed, she could bet everything she has that the rape happened. The woman was too bad of a liar to trick Cassandra like that. The assholes just didn't want to report it. Cassandra sighed, now, the only question was 'why'. Cassandra could think of about dozen reasons, each more unpleasant than the last.

Cassandra began typing again while glancing at her fake FBI ID. Lisa was at school so she didn't have to worry about her coming into her room and seeing what she was doing. First, she was going to interrogate people at the parents' jobs. Then she would investigate this rape case a little more. Now, she has to do social service's job as well. She could swear she's doing everybody's job these days.

XXXXXX

Emma Frost rubbed her eyes as she sat at the cab taking her to the girl's school. She arrived in the Miami late last night and had to go to the hotel right away because of that. This morning, the first thing she did, after showering and having a breakfast, was going to the White residence and ask for the girl. The good news is that the girl really is the one who created all that gold. Her mother ordered her to turn all of those stuff into gold, well, all but her father, that one the girl did herself, but the bastard deserved far worse than that in Emma's opinion. Anyway, she ordered her to turn it all into gold so she could sell it and get rich.

Bad news is that the girl was kidnaped just days before Emma found out about her. And the woman, instead of going to the police, hired a mercenary. The mercenary did look trustworthy, but then again, they all look trustworthy, right before they stab you in the back. And plus, even if she was trustworthy, the kind of power the girl has is enough to corrupt anyone. Still, calling the police wouldn't be any better. They might decide to take the girl for themselves too. Emma wouldn't even trust Charles, the self-righteous and idealistic man he is, with the girl if she didn't have to. Then again, after she found out about his spy in the Hellfire Club, she wouldn't trust him with anything, so that isn't saying much.

"So, miss, are you visiting our city for business or just a vacation?" The cabbie asked her from his place in the driver's seat. Emma just sighed as she used her telepathy to encourage him to stop trying to talk with her and concentrate on getting her to her destination as quickly as possible. Emma really wasn't in the mood to chat right now.

XXXXXX

Cassandra sighed as she listened to Mr. White's superior ranting about how the man didn't come to his job in a month and a half. Mr. White used to work as a security guard at one of the Stark's buildings in Miami, but the last time he showed up for work was about a month and a half ago. Now, that doesn't smell right, Mrs. White didn't go to her job since she found out about her daughter's mutation either, but at least she called them to quit, while her husband just disappeared.

"Mr. Barnes!" Cassandra, or Maggie, which is the name she uses when she pretends to be an FBI agent, finally decided to interrupt his annoying ranting. When he went silent, she looked at him sternly. "Did Mr. White have any friends that worked with him? Someone he would go to have a drink with or something?"

Mr. Barnes scratched his fat head as he appeared to think about it. "Yes." He nodded with a giant smile on his giant face, seriously, you would think the guy won a lottery, not answered some question a five year old could answer with how giant his smile was. "Yes, there were three guys he went out to drink and gamble with." He nodded at her, the smile never leaving his face.

Cassandra looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to tell her who these guys are. When it was clear the man didn't get the hint, she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, she could feel the headache coming. "What are their names, Mr. Barnes?" She asked him impatiently.

Mr. Barnes raised a finger as a sign for her to wait and went to rummage through his cabinets. As he did that, Cassandra looked around his office, it wasn't very large but it looked cozy, it had red walls, red, expensive looking couch, a mahogany desk, a bookshelf just behind it, with lots of book that probably only serve as a decoration and a black cabinet. It looks like Stark takes care of his employees, even the stupid and insignificant ones, like this fat-ass here.

"Ah, here they are." Mr. Barnes's voice brought Cassandra out of looking around the room and made her turn her head to look at him. He moved towards his desk and placed three files on it. "These are the files of the guys I know he used to hang out with." He said with a smile as he sat down on his chair. Cassandra moved towards the desk and opened the first file while nodding her head in thanks.

The first file was about some white, fat and bearded guy in his late forties, the kind of guy you would expect to see behind the wheel of some truck. His name was David Brown, the usual kind of family man, it would appear. He has a wife, two kids, goes to church every week, no criminal records. Heh, these files look like police records, seems like Stark likes to know what kind of people he has working for him. Although, from what she heard about the man, he doesn't really sound like the kind of man who would actually bother to read all of these files. But Cassandra isn't stupid enough to believe everything she hears.

The second man is some guy named Teddy Jacobs, a drunk of the worst kind. He was fined for driving while drunk a couple of times, and last month, he lost his driver's license. He was also in prison for a short period of time for domestic violence. Divorced, good thing his ex-wife was smart and brave enough to do that, Cassandra met some women who kept silent about these types of abuses for years and still did nothing to stop it. He has one son from that marriage but he can't even come near him because of the court order.

The third man is Roger Davidson. He also, like the first guy, has a family, a wife and a thirteen year old daughter. No criminal records, he also seems like a normal kind of guy. But Cassandra can't shake the feeling that something is wrong with him. She could see it in the smile he wore while taking the picture, to a regular person that smile might look normal, friendly even, but to Cassandra's trained eye, it looked… twisted, somehow. Cassandra sighed, that was hardly any evidence. It was only her hunch. But she learned a long time ago that her hunch is rarely wrong, she might as well start with the good Mr. Davidson. Even though it's doubtful he had anything to do with the kidnaping.

Cassandra closed the file and glanced at the man. "I'm going to need copies of these files." She told the man coldly. When the man's eyes widened and he appeared reluctant, Cassandra narrowed her eyes. "Listen here, I don't care if your boss is a fucking superhero, if you refuse my request, it will be considered as interference of a federal investigation, and you will stand trial." Cassandra paused for a second to let the words kick in. When his eyes widened even more in fear, Cassandra resisted the urge to smirk and glared at him coldly. "Am I understood?"

The man nodded his head multiple times. "Yes, yes, of course." He stood up and reached out to take the files. "I'll just take these and have them copied. Wouldn't want to interfere with your investigation. God forbid." He laughed nervously. When Cassandra gave him a cold smirk and handed him the files, he gulped. "I will have these copied right away." He said before moving to his office phone to call his secretary.

XXXXXX

When she entered the mercenary part of the bar, Emma stopped breathing for a second. The place stinks, how someone could sit there the entire day was beyond her. When she arrived to the girl's school, Emma immediately did a telepathic scan to find someone who knew Beatrice well enough to 'tell' her something more about her.

Beatrice and her mother weren't that close, though after she went through the woman's mind, she wasn't surprised. So, Emma hoped to 'talk' to some friends of Beatrice's to find out more about her, and who might have known about her power. She was disappointed to find out the girl didn't really have any friends at school, though she, again, wasn't surprised, the children suffering from domestic abuse tend to be closed off.

She did, however, go to the principal's office and ask for the girl's school records, and she has to admit, she was impressed. So, when she was done with school, Emma decided to pay a visit to this bar, Viper, and find out a little more about the mysterious mercenary. The woman was too much of a nervous wreck to even ask for her name.

"Can I help you?" Emma turned her head to look towards where the voice came from to see a man in his fifties with a rough face and a black graying hair staring at her with impassionate eyes. That must be Donny, Emma thought as a cold smirk appeared on her lips. Perfect, this man definitely knows who the mercenary is. She approached the bar as she started scanning his mind. Her eyebrows rose in surprise when, instead of an easy access, she found rather strong mental shields. The man's eyes narrowed at her, he could feel her trying to enter his mind? "Listen, if you want to ask something, ask. Don't go poking my brain."

Emma schooled her expression into one of indifference before sitting down on one of the barstools and nodding. "Very well." She glanced around the bar to see a couple of men, probably mercenaries, already drunk, even though it's barely noon. Emma shook her head, probably failures. The woman who was hired by Mrs. White wasn't there though. "I'm looking for a mercenary." The man looked around the bar while shrugging, as if to say 'look around'. Emma rolled her eyes at him, making the man smirk slightly. "A specific mercenary." She rephrased coldly, the man nodded to show he was listening. "An attractive woman in her middle or late twenties with medium-length black hair and blue eyes."

The man appeared thoughtful for a couple of seconds before nodding slightly. "She's about your height, muscular but still feminine and has a white but not really pale complexion?" When he got a nod, he leaned against a liquor cabinet and scratched his chin while appearing to be thinking something over. Finally, after about half a minute, he nodded. "Cassandra Jones." He said as he took a mop and began cleaning the counter top. "Former military, special team, even more secretive than CIA, I don't know anything about it." He shrugged without looking up from the counter top he was cleaning. "She was dishonorably discharged about six years ago, they say she punched her commanding officer but I doubt it." Then he looked up at her and shrugged again. "Right now, she's the most expensive and probably the most skilled mercenary in Florida. That's all that comes to mind right now." He shrugged again and resumed cleaning the counter top before remembering something and looking up at her again. "Oh, that's right, one more thing. She's a mutant, has a short range teleportation."

Emma raised her eyebrow at him, she was surprised he would spill all that like he doesn't even care. It's doubtful he would get a lot of business if it got out he was sharing his customers' information like that. She was even more surprised he didn't ask for any kind of payment in exchange for the information. "Why are you simply telling me all of this?" Seeing how much he told her already, she decided to just ask him.

"Well, you did ask didn't you?" He shrugged as he continued to clean the counter top. Emma was starting to believe he was cleaning it out of habit, rather than necessity. "Plus, the way I see it, if you go against Cassandra, one of the two things is certain to happen." He stopped cleaning the counter top to lean against the liquor cabinet with his arms crossed, mop still in his left hand. "You're either going to end up dead or end up in her bed." He chuckled. "Hey, that rhymes. I should write it down, use it every time some pretty girl comes here looking for Cassandra." He shook his head. "Anyway, no offence, but neither of those possibilities bother me. She kills you, she might be a little pissed for a while, but she'll get over it." He shrugged. "She takes you to her bed, I can expect a nice tip when she next comes around."

Emma glared at him coldly after she heard his last comment, but she remained silent. Instead, she just nodded towards him in thanks and got up from the stool and moved to exit the bar. Donny watched her as she left, then continued cleaning his counter top while shaking his head. "I better get a real nice tip for this." He muttered to himself.

XXXXXX

An eighteen year old Cassandra sighed as she walked towards her drill sergeant's office after her run. She couldn't really understand all the fuss the other recruits are making about these runs. Sure, they were a little longer than her usual morning jogs, but they weren't so tough. Just another one of those things she will never get, she guesses.

Anyway, digressing, it was the day after her fight, and she was ordered to go to her drill sergeant's office when she finished her run. Her drill sergeant was a nice lady in her middle twenties, too nice to be a drill sergeant, so Cassandra wasn't really worried, even though she was sure she was summoned because of her fight from last night. Hey that rhymes, she made a mental note to write that down when she gets back to her barrack.

Anyway, digressing again, her drill sergeant was pretty nice, and Cassandra can be pretty manipulative when she wants to, so she wasn't really worried. When she arrived in front of the door to her drill sergeant's office, she made sure to stand straight and to have a pleasant smile on her face. She knocked and waited until she heard yell for her to enter before walking in. When she walked inside, the smile that she had on her face disappeared. The chair that belongs to Cassandra's drill sergeant was now occupied by Marcus Johnson. Okay, now she was worried.

Marcus raised an eyebrow at her. "Not too happy to see me, I assume." When Cassandra tried to stutter an apology he waved a dismissive hand. "It's alright." He then indicated the chair in front of the desk. "Have a seat." Cassandra glanced at her drill sergeant, who was standing beside the desk, before moving to sit down. "You can leave now, Ms. Greer." He addressed the drill sergeant without looking away from Cassandra.

The drill sergeant saluted and left the room, leaving them alone. Marcus leaned forward in his chair and clasped his hands on the desk while nodding towards the file in front of him. "I read your files, and I have to say, I'm impressed." Cassandra glanced down at the files while Marcus got up from the chair and moved to look out the window. "Skilled in at least ten forms of hand-to-hand combat, some learned in martial arts classes, some self-taught." He said without looking away from the scenery outside. "Excels in every physical training, an expert marksman, but you are headstrong, undisciplined and insubordinate." Cassandra gulped, that's where everything usually went downhill. "Just the kind of person I'm looking for."

Cassandra whipped her head to look at him with wide eyes. Did he just say what she thinks he said? Why the hell would anyone look for a headstrong, undisciplined and insubordinate soldier? Marcus turned around so he could look at her and raised an eyebrow. Cassandra shook her head slowly. "With all due respect, sir, why?" She asked, making him chuckle. Cassandra really couldn't understand what was so funny, she was seriously confused.

Marcus moved to sit on the chair again and looked directly in her eyes. "What I tell you here, whether you decide to accept or not, is not leaving this room, understood?" When Cassandra nodded that she understood, he continued. "During the World War II, the Nazi had a scientific department which was conducting illegal, and downright monstrous experiments." He paused to check whether she was listening. When he got a nod, he continued. "Experimenting on humans, creating bombs stronger than nukes and many other things. The organization's name was HYDRA."

Cassandra's eyes widened when she heard that. "HYDRA? Isn't that the organization that was destroyed by Captain America?" She asking while sitting up straight.

Marcus nodded his head. "Yes. Or so we thought." He stood up and walked to look out of the window again. "It appears the HYDRA had some people that were as dangerous, or even more so, than their late leader, Red Skull." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "It would appear that these people continued working towards HYDRA's goals in secrecy after Red Skull's demise."

Cassandra appeared thoughtful as she looked straight ahead of herself. "And those goals are…"

Marcus nodded without looking away from the scenery outside. "World domination. Anyway, a couple of months ago, they stopped hiding and started operating openly again." He paused to glance at Cassandra, who appeared stunned. "We managed to keep HYDRA's reappearance under wraps so far, to avoid panic amongst civilians, but we won't be able to keep it that way for much longer." He moved to sit on the chair again. "Now, the US government is already creating a special task-force for battling that organization, but they would rather hide HYDRA's existence from the public until they manage to create it."

Cassandra looked at him questionably. "So, why are you telling me this?" She asked suspiciously.

Marcus leaned forward in his chair and clasped his hands on the table. "You are a very skilled individual. And I'm not talking about your physical prowess, or your special talents." It was clear he was talking about her mutation. "But, from what I've heard, you're also charismatic, manipulative and a very skilled tactician." Cassandra gulped when she heard him say manipulative, it's never good when someone teels you that you're manipulative. Especially if it's true. "I'll be frank here, we need someone to infiltrate the organization and you are perfect."

Cassandra raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You want me to be a spy?" When he nodded, she pressed a finger to her chest. "Me?" Her disbelief was clearly seen on her face and heard in her voice.

Marcus shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see why not. You're perfect for this job. Your skills, both in combat and social, as well as your mutation will help you greatly in infiltrating the organization's higher ranks."

Cassandra nodded slowly, it makes sense. Her combat skills as well as her social skills would impress the higher-ups in the organization and, unlike the rest of the world, HYDRA rather likes people with powers. Or at least that's what she heard during her history lessons. Still, she would be alone in the enemy territory with no back-up. But if no one does anything, HYDRA could take over the world, and that would be bad. Like, you just got the girl you always wanted in your bed and you forgot to buy condoms bad. Of course, Cassandra never really had to worry about that, because she's, well, a lesbian. But it's still bad.

Cassandra took a deep breath and nodded. "What do I need to do?"

 **AN/ And that's another chapter. I'm going to put a couple more chapters for the merc's story before I continue with the black knight. Well, I should have probably said this at the beginning but this story will be pretty dark at times. Anyway, sorry for so much of the scene changes but it really was necessary, and it will be like that for a couple more chapters.**

 **Follow, favorite, review**


	5. Please read

**CHANGED**

 **I changed the last scene of the last chapter to go with the idea I just got.**

 **So if you could go back and check it out, that would be great.**

 **Sorry for the inconvenience.**


End file.
